Volkswagen: 1975 VW Super Beetle will not run, fuel injection system, vw repair

Question
I have owned a 1975 VW Super Beatle with Fuel Injection for about ten years.  Before the current problem began, it was driven very little, only about once a month.  Two to three years ago, without any other symptoms, it would begin to sputter and run erratically, but I was able to keep it running revving the motor long enough for the motor to run smoothly again.  As time went on, this would occur more frequently, and sometimes the motor would just stop running and then would not restart, usually because it would be flooded, requiring that I have it towed home.  After sitting for some period, the engine would refire and run fine, until the next occasion, when the same problem would reoccur.

Over time, the car became so unreliable that I stopped driving it.  I could start it up, and it would run at idle fine, but if I drove it more than 2-3 blocks from home, it would do the same thing; begin to sputter, almost die, unless I raced the motor to keep it running, trying to return home, but barely keeping it running unless I raced the engine constantly.

A local VW repair garage charged me almost $600 troubleshooting the problem, to no avail.  They replaced the coil, the plug wires, points, the distributor, the fuel pump and claim that they tested much of the fuel injection system with no success.  The car has now sat in my garage for the past 6 months, moved only occasionally.  Attempting to drive it is impossible because it still will not run for any period reliably.  I don’t want to replace the fuel injection system with a carburetor, but also am not sure that that’s the problem.  Can you help?


Answer
Hi Charlie:

YIKES 600.00!   We can fix your fuel injection worries. We simply need to take it step-by-step.

First thing to do is go to www.busdepot.com and order a #3 cylinder head temperature sensor.  It is located (I'm sure you can guess) by the number three cylinder.  It is screwed on to the top, and is easily unscrewed with a 13 MM wrench.

The cost is under 20.00, and should be replaced as a maintenance item.  Get that installed and let's take it from there.  

More times than not, that can be the problem.

Let me know how you make out.   IF you are still having problems, we can take a look at the vacuum system.

Ron